Thursday, October 20, 2011

W.H. Auden on Reading




To read is to translate, for no two persons' experiences are the same. A bad reader is like a bad translator: he interprets literally when he ought to paraphrase and paraphrases when he ought to interpret literally.

-W.H. Auden, poet (1907-1973)





So who decides on the "ought"? Surely this statement implies that there is a single "correct" way of interpreting a text... You're letting the postmodern side down W.H., pull yourself together!


I find myself agreeing with the sentiment though.

Postmodernism is overrated.

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